Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

Well first things first, everything is in the wash having spent three days hiking through the very splendid, but very dusty Colca Canyon. We are spending the day in Arequipa, and Ash is sat here in an Internet Cafe in the middle of the city in the only clean clothes he has left.... his pyjamas!

We arrived in Arequipa early last Tuesday morning on an overnight bus from Nazca. The road snaked and twisted up through the mountains and we slid from side to side in our seats all night long! It was one of those journeys where you are better off drawing the curtains and not looking out of the window... your life firmly in the drivers hands!!!

After transferring to our nice bed and breakfast in the centre of town we freshened up and went for a walk around the city's historical centre. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and located at 2,500m altitude in the very south of the country. The city sits in a desert valley and is flanked by El Misti, a 6,000m dormant volcano, and a series of other very large snow capped mountains. The city centre itself is beautiful with great examples of 16th and 17th century colonial architecture, little cobbled streets, old churches, arcades and stone courtyards. Again, it is quite rightly another UNESCO World Heritage site. It's also a very touristy city and we have seen more tourists here than anywhere else so far. There are many tour agencies, hotels and restaurants here and so on our first afternoon we checked out the agencies and hired ourselves a guide to do a 3 day trek into the Colca Canyon, which is the major tourist draw in this part of Peru. We also booked our bus to, and accommodation in Cusco for Sunday so we arrive in good time to acclimatise for our Inca Trail on 8th May.

We spent Wednesday in Arequipa where we relaxed a little, saw the sights and prepared for our trip to Colca. We visited the Santa Catalina monastery which is nicely situated next to our hotel and occupies a whole block in the city centre. It dates back to the 16th Century and is still an active convent for 30 nuns. We enjoyed wandering around the basic residences and little streets.

On Thursday morning at 5.30am we were met by our guide, Maria, for the Colca Canyon and took a taxi to the local bus terminal. We had to take a 3 hour public bus to a town called Chivay and then another bus for 2 hours to Cabanaconde which is the gateway for trekking into the canyon. Well the local bus did not disappoint and was full of adventure as usual! The bus was dirty and smelly and from the safety of our seats we watched as about 70 people packed onto a bus that should only carry 48!! Despite this, the bus still did it's customary (and frustrating) stopping and starting through the town for the first half an hour to try and pack even more passengers onto the bus! Ash, in his aisle seat was practically sat on by a rather large and scruffy lady carrying all her big bags and smelly rags. He was really not impressed and that is saying a lot because it takes a lot to bother Ash!

Well... the saga continued! After an hour of discomfort and stale air the bus broke down! We were 78km outside of Arequipa and in the middle of nowhere on a dusty mountain road. Unfortunately there is no AA here and so what ensued was 5 hours of practically all the men on the bus having a go at hammering, bashing, taping and glueing the engine and pumping arid black fumes all around the place. In the end, we had to wait for another bus to turn up with what we were told would be spare parts... but all that arrived was a spanner! When the bus driver hopped out to try and help our bus his passengers started a mini protest and he was forced to leave! Thankfully, five hours later the bus was repaired... but only just judging from the thick black smoke that continued to belch out of it! The one good thing was that by now most of the people that had been standing on our bus had either walked off or hitched a lift in the back of a truck and so we were blessed with a little space and less body odour! On our journey we crossed a mountain pass which took us just short of 5,000m altitude (the highest we have ever been) before arriving unscathed in Chivay and then onto Cabanaconde and the Colca Canyon. The road from Chivay to Cabanaconde was an unmade and very narrow mountain road which made for the bumpiest journey ever and given the bus had no suspension, we were literally thrown about! We both felt like we had ridden a horse rather than taken a bus!

We arrived in Cabanconde at 3pm, a small, dusty and basic town situated at 3,200m. After a quick lunch we began our trek, walking out of town and towards the Canyon. The Colca Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world and is 3,400m deep. Our accommodation for the night was situated near the bottom of the canyon and the scenery along the steep walk down was stunning, with high mountains either side of the deep canyon, terraced farming up the slopes of the mountains and a river in the canyon deep down below us. We also spotted hummingbirds as we walked. We made it to the bottom of the canyon and slightly up to our accommodation just as it was getting dark. The path the whole way was broken and dusty and so we were both pretty filthy by the days end! Our destination for the night was the tiny indigenous village of San Juan de Chuccho and our accommodation was called Hostal Gloria. It was a series of beautifully situated cabins. There was no electricity in the cabins and so we had to do everything by candlelight and head torch, including the all important bug check! We had a local dinner cooked in an outside kitchen by the owners, with Ash feasting on his first taste of Alpbaca (Llama!). It tasted like venison and as he ate he remembered how he had ridden on one as a child at London Zoo! Bi stuck to her omelette!

We woke early, skipped the cold shower and instead opted to use our own baby-wipe supply. What bliss! After a pancake breakfast we trekked for 2.5 hours through the tiny and self-sufficient indigenous villages of Cosñirhua and Malata (both at 2,660m). It was fascinating to see the tiny stone and mud houses, and especially to see every imaginable cut of meat hanging out to dry on the washing lines alongside the clothes in order to preserve it. The flies were loving it! En route we had the opportunity to try local cactus fruit which is in abundance here, and Ash played postman, carrying a letter from the local doctor to deliver back in Cabanaconde. On our way through Malata village some children were willing to pose for a photo... in exchange for some chocolate!

At midday we arrived at Sangalle, more commonly known as 'The Oasis', situated at the bottom of the canyon. We spent a few hours relaxing in the shade of palm trees and in a fresh spring pool. After lunch we had a massive 3.5 hour uphill hike in the heat to return to Cabanaconde, where we had a very rewarding hot shower! The trail was again broken and very dusty and we passed many locals pulling their donkeys, which were laden with fruit and grasses. They didn't seem to struggle nearly as much as we did!

After an extremely cold night in Cabanaconde (we slept wearing almost every item of clothing!), we boarded a local bus and travelled 30 minutes to Mirador El Condor where we sat for an hour and watched the giant condors, with their enormous 3m wingspans, gliding through the Canyon. They were beautiful and very graceful. The rest of the afternoon was spent travelling, rather uneventfully for once, back to Arequipa with a brief stop in Chivay to sit in the hot springs.

Today is Sunday and we, with our dicky tummies (again!), are resting up in Arequipa before heading to Cusco on an overnight bus tonight. The town has a lovely feel and is a really nice place to be chilling out, but eating is really becoming hard work and we have now started resorting to eating boxes of cereal and cartons of yoghurt for some of our meals! We are so desperate for some fruit and veg!!